Midwest
Senate Leadership Fund, Ohio NBC affiliate spar over Sen. Sherrod Brown 'too liberal for Ohio' fact-check
There is beef over an Ohio political ad.
A conservative Super Pac has urged an Ohio NBC affiliate to correct an on-air fact-check by an analyst with a liberal social media history who disputed claims that Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown supported sex changes for minors and biological men in women’s sports — but the Cleveland-based station doesn’t appear concerned.
The Senate Leadership Fund put out an ad criticizing Brown for backing President Biden’s “extreme liberal agenda,” claiming the Ohio Democrat backed Biden by “voting to let transgender, biological men participate in women’s sports,” supporting and “allowing puberty blockers and sex change surgeries for minor children,” in addition to supporting Bidenomics.
The Senate Leadership Fund, which is aligned with Sen. Mitch McConnell and was created to help build a Republican Senate majority, concluded that Brown, who is being challenged by Trump-backed businessman Bernie Moreno, is “too liberal for Ohio.”
WKYC digital anchor and legal analyst Stephanie Haney fact-checked the ad, saying its assertions were false. WKYC aired a portion of the ad before Haney took the Super Pac to task.
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WKYC digital anchor and legal analyst Stephanie Haney declared assertions in a Senate Leadership Fund ad were false.
“Let’s start with the claim that Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown supported allowing puberty blockers and sex change surgeries for minor children,” Haney said, noting that the ad cited an interview Brown did in 2023 with WSYX.
“A child’s health care decisions are between them, their parents, their families, their doctors, not politicians,” a clip of Brown said. “I will never agree with anybody that wants to bring politics into the family situation with health care. Period.”
Haney then read a statement from Brown’s campaign team: “Sherrod’s comments cited in the ad were not in support of puberty blockers or gender reassignment surgeries, but instead a call to keep politicians out of decisions that should be made between families and doctors.”
Haney told viewers she could “verify” the Senate Leadership Fund claims were “false.”
Haney, who has called former President Trump “racist” and fawned over former President Obama on her X account, then moved on to the claim about women’s sports.
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The Senate Leadership Fund put out an ad criticizing Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown for backing President Biden’s “extreme liberal agenda.” (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“When making the claim, the ad refers to a vote in the U.S. Senate from March of 2021. When we pull up this vote on the U.S. Senate website, we see the amendment that was the subject of the vote had nothing to do with allowing transgender people to participate in women’s sports. It was actually only about money,” Haney told viewers.
“Sen. Brown voted against including an amendment in the American Rescue Plan that would have stripped federal funding from Ohio schools if those schools allowed transgender people to participate in women’s sports,” she continued. “So, we can verify, the claim that Brown voted to let transgender biological men participate in women’s sports is false.”
Haney ultimately ruled that two claims made in the ad were verified as “false,” essentially telling viewers the Senate Leadership Fund commercial was misleading on its face.
When the Senate Leadership Fund caught wind of the fact-checking segment, it emailed Haney to suggest the “story is missing some key pieces of information and is misleading voters” and pointed out that she never asked the Senate Leadership Fund for comment before airing the segment.
In emails obtained by Fox News Digital, Haney pushed back, insisting the ad was a public comment itself and “that statement” was included.
“I went on to fact check the sources cited in the statement, including the WSYX interview and the roll call vote from 2021. Please let me know what you believe to be missing from the piece,” Haney wrote.
The Senate Leadership Fund’s communications team responded with a scathing email.
“I work with fact checkers all the time. Not once has a journalist, or fact checker, not reached out to me for additional information, context or comment,” the Senate Leadership Fund communications director wrote.
“What you did here is not industry practice and it’s unethical. You allowed Sherrod Brown the opportunity to respond. Sherrod Brown’s interview with WSYX and his votes to allow men to play in women’s sports are both ‘public statements.’ Yet, you allowed him to clarify, but did not give us the opportunity to provide more information,” the communications director continued. “Also, I’m not sure why you think the ad being a ‘public statement’ makes a difference here.”
The Senate Leadership Fund then informed Haney that the fact-check was missing “key information,” but the Super Pac preferred to share it with her editor or news director.
Haney obliged and added the station’s news director to the email chain, prompting the Senate Leadership Fund to send another scathing takedown.
“I just want to again reiterate that I have never had a fact checker not reach out before publishing a piece. I think it does a disservice to your viewers and the station’s credibility to not reach out for more information. Frankly, I think this ‘fact check’ was more opinion than fact, and a correction needs to be issued,” the communications director wrote.
“Sherrod Brown voted twice (March 2021 and March 2024) to allow transgender biological men to participate in women’s sports. You’re correct that both these votes involve funding, but men are still allowed to participate in women’s sports at schools that received federal funding because Brown voted against the amendment. If the amendment had passed, men would NOT be allowed to participate in women’s sports at schools that receive federal funding,” Senate Leadership Fund’s communications director continued. “Can you point to the portion of Brown’s interview with WSYX where he states he’s against puberty blockers and sex changes for minors? I couldn’t find it.”
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The Senate Leadership Fund and Haney continued to bicker over email and never came to any sort of agreement, with the pro-GOP group insisting the fact-check was inaccurate, represented “an opinion” and needed to be “updated.”
“What this boils down to is the fact that not denouncing something does not equate to voting for it, or supporting it,” Haney wrote.
Brown’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Brown voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act last year. The bill “generally prohibits school athletic programs from allowing individuals whose biological sex at birth was male to participate in programs that are for women or girls.”
In 2021, Brown sponsored an LGBTQ Pride Month resolution that included language about transgender youth participating in sports and their ability to access health care. Brown has long supported legislation that protects the well-being of transgender individuals.
WKYC and Haney did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.
The Senate Leadership Fund stands by the ad.
“Sherrod Brown fully supports allowing minors to receive puberty blockers and sex changes. He also supports allowing biological men to play in women’s sports. These facts are indisputable, and those who claim otherwise are looking through a partisan lens,” a spokesperson for the Senate Leadership Fund told Fox News Digital.
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The Senate Leadership Fund stands by its ad criticizing Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown despite Stephanie Haney’s fact-check.
Haney’s social media history suggests she’s reliably liberal.
“I believe that Trump is racist and I do not support his policies,” she tweeted in 2016.
“Trump was right. Mexico will build a wall. And will pay for it. To keep Trump out. God help us all. I’m not being dramatic,” she wrote in another 2016 tweet.
Haney tweeted in 2012, “I love you #Ohio! I’m happy both of my “home states” went Blue tonight! #California #Election2012 #Obama #TeamObama.”
Fox News Digital’s David Rutz contributed to this report.
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Detroit, MI
Priority Waste CEO shares progress on plan to fix disruptions, delays across Metro Detroit
The CEO of Priority Waste announced the progress of the company’s recovery plan following numerous customer complaints across Metro Detroit.
CEO Aaron Johnson sent a letter to residents on Wednesday, July 1, outlining the progress so far on Priority Waste’s recovery plan after numerous communities across Metro Detroit experienced service delays and collection disruptions.
Previous coverage –> Priority Waste apologizes to Metro Detroit customers, outlines plan for improvements
“Our objective is not simply to restore service, but to build a stronger, more reliable company than the one that existed before,” said Johnson. “We will continue to communicate openly, share our progress, and hold ourselves accountable for delivering measurable results. Most importantly, we are committed to earning back your trust, not through words alone, but through sustained improvement and reliable performance which we have detailed for you.”
The letter sent out on Wednesday outlined a 30-day service recovery report.
You can view the full letter below:
Dear Residents:
One month ago, I was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Priority Waste after serving as a senior advisor behind the scenes. From my first day in this role, my focus has been clear: observe, assess, and correct. First and foremost, we want to acknowledge and sincerely apologize for the frustration and inconvenience many of you have experienced. We take full responsibility for the service failures that have occurred. While the challenges we face today were not created overnight, we are committed to addressing them with urgency, transparency, and accountability.
At Priority Waste, we are embracing a culture of continuous improvement. Every day, we are working to be better than we were the day before. Our objective is not simply to restore service, but to build a stronger, more reliable company than the one that existed before. We will continue to communicate openly, share our progress, and hold ourselves accountable for delivering measurable results. Most importantly, we are committed to earning back your trust, not through words alone, but through sustained improvement and reliable performance which we have detailed for you below.
Priority Waste’s 5 Point Recovery Plan
1. Fleet Expansion
To strengthen our operations, Priority Waste has purchased 198 trucks previously operating under rental agreements, as well as 91 new automated side-load collection vehicles equipped with upgraded technology to improve efficiency and reliability. To date, we have received 30 of the 91 new vehicles, with the remaining trucks expected to arrive by the end of August due to manufacturing and delivery timelines. Frequent vehicle breakdowns have been one of the primary causes of service interruptions. As these new trucks enter our fleet, they will improve route reliability and provide more consistent collection service for your household.
2. Staffing Enhancements
Over the past three weeks, we have hired 41 qualified drivers, and our recruitment efforts continue every day. Our goal is to maintain approximately 20 percent excess driver capacity, ensuring we can effectively respond to employee absences, seasonal demand, and unexpected operational challenges without disrupting customer service.
3. Container Reinvestment
Limited investment resulted in a significant backlog of container deliveries and repairs. During my first week as CEO, we invested more than $2 million to purchase 19,000 new containers to begin eliminating that backlog. In addition, we have expanded our container delivery operation from five crews to nine crews over the past 30 days. We anticipate completing all outstanding container requests within the next two weeks.
4. Customer Service Improvements
When service issues occur, our customers deserve timely answers and responsive support. Previously, our customer service operation was not adequately staffed to handle the volume of incoming calls. To address this, we quickly expanded our customer support capacity through a partnership with a Michigan-based contact center, allowing us to significantly improve responsiveness. As service performance has improved, customer call volume has declined by approximately 50 percent.
Ultimately, however, our goal is not simply to answer more calls, it’s to eliminate the need for them by consistently providing on-time service.
5. Recovery Operations
While our goal is always to provide on-time service, we recognize that issues can still occur. When they do, missed collections will be recovered the very next day.
We understand the burden these service disruptions have placed on you and your family, and we sincerely apologize. Over the coming weeks, we anticipate increased operational demands surrounding the Fourth of July holiday, which will provide another opportunity to further strengthen our operations and services. I look forward to providing another update in 30 days and sharing the measurable improvements we continue to achieve. Thank you for your patience, your feedback, and the opportunity to earn back your trust.
Sincerely,
Aaron Johnson
Chief Executive Officer
Priority Waste
Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
MILWAUKEE — There’s a push to get more teenagers working over the summer, but it comes at a tough time.
The number of jobs secured by teens fell 25% last summer compared to the summer of 2024, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That trend seems to be continuing, as many services that help place people in jobs report that there are even fewer opportunities for teens this summer.
Milwaukee County, city and school district leaders are working to change that by offering paid internships to high school students.
Spectrum News met up with some of them at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) where they take some job-related classes before starting their internships.
Milwaukee Public School student, Keira Cruz, got into the hospitality and tourism internship.
“I wanted to learn more from it and maybe in the future, become an event planner,” said Cruz, who’s going into her senior year at South Division High School.
Across campus, another group of MPS students is learning how to make their own professional pages and search for jobs on LinkedIn.
“There’s so much stuff out here that you could do to end up where you want to be,” said Mahogonie Wright, who attends James Madison Academic Campus and wants to pursue a career in healthcare. “It’s a pleasure to be able to do anything that, you know, enhances my possible career choices.”
After some classroom preparation, students are paired with a local company, small business, nonprofit or city/county office for seven weeks.
The goal is to match them in the field they’re interested in. This is tied to Employ Milwaukee’s Earn and Learn program.
Teens work 20 hours per week and earn a wage of about $12 an hour.
“It creates a better sense of self for that student,” said Emily Brown, internship coordinator for MPS. “A better sense of purpose, so that hopefully one day they will find their passion.”
Brown said students must demonstrate a commitment before being accepted into the program.
“If we can’t see that you’re coming to school every day, how are we going to know that you’re going to go to that internship or opportunity every day?” she asked.
Paid summer internships for teenagers are in high demand, as fewer employers are hiring seasonal workers.
Brown doesn’t want to turn interested students away, but growth of the internship program is reliant on public and private grants, donations and businesses willing to participate.
“We’re always looking for additional partnerships so that students can extend what they learn in the classroom into the real world,” Brown said.
Both Kiera and Mohagonie acknowledged that these opportunities give them something productive to do while they’re out of school. They’d like to see all Milwaukee high schoolers get this chance.
A stretch of Interstate 94 in Minneapolis has reopened after a fatal crash closed it for hours Wednesday morning.
The Minnesota State Patrol said the crash occurred on westbound I-94 near Interstate 35W around 2:30 a.m. The patrol said the crash was fatal, but did not say how many people or vehicles were involved.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation said the road was cleared just before 6:15 a.m., and a WCCO crew at the scene saw traffic moving through.
This story will be updated.
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